{"id":32693,"date":"2022-06-11T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-11T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/puppyintraining.com\/?p=32693"},"modified":"2022-06-08T14:29:47","modified_gmt":"2022-06-08T22:29:47","slug":"when-can-you-shower-a-puppy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/puppyintraining.com\/when-can-you-shower-a-puppy\/","title":{"rendered":"When Can You Shower A Puppy?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When you get a new puppy<\/a>, you want to do everything you can to care for them. For many of us, this includes keeping them squeaky clean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, it actually is not a good idea to shower your puppy too soon or too often. So, when can you shower a puppy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Showering a puppy when they are too young can represent a major risk to their health, as they can easily get sick in the aftermath of a shower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Showering them too often can also leave them open to skin issues such as skin irritation and excess shedding.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"When<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

In this article, we will look at exactly when you can start showering your puppy and why showering them correctly and at the right age is so important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We will also look at how often you should shower them to keep their coat in tip-top condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spoiler Alert!<\/em><\/strong> You should only start to shower your puppy when they are 7 to 8 weeks old. How often you should shower them depends on the type of coat that they have, but it can be as little as 1 to 4 times a year.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Can You Shower A Puppy?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

How early can you give a puppy a shower? Ideally, you should wait until they are at least eight weeks old<\/a>, and definitely no earlier than four weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This can be difficult for some pet parents to hear, as puppies can have a bit of a distinctive smell to them when you bring them home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They also are very messy and tend to get into their food and feces, which can leave an odor. Still, it is better to brush them or wipe them down with a warm, damp cloth until they get a bit older.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why? Until they are about four weeks old<\/a>, puppies have a lower body temperature than is standard for most dogs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Puppies in their first month of life will have a body temperature of around 97 degrees Fahrenheit, which will gradually increase until they are about four weeks old when they will reach around 100.5 degrees Fahrenheit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The standard temperature for most adult dogs is between 100.5 and 102.5 degrees Fahrenheit<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For this reason, it is hard for young puppies to keep warm. This is part of the reason that they like to snuggle up to their mother and their littermates, as shared body temperature helps keep them warm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you give them a shower during the first four weeks of their life, they are at an extremely high risk of falling ill from being too cold, no matter what measures you take to warm them up. Puppies can die within the first few weeks of life if they can\u2019t keep warm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While they are warmer between 4 to 8 weeks old, their bodies have still not learned how to regulate their temperature. If something causes their temperature to drop, like a shower, they might not be able to warm themselves up, again putting their health at risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will know if they are still struggling to regulate their body temperature, as they will seem cold even when the air temperature around them is not that cold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They will spend a lot of time snuggled up to their mother, littermates, you, or a heater to keep warm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When they start doing this less and spending more time venturing away from their normal heat sources, it is because they are getting better at managing their body heat themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If your puppy still seems like they are struggling to maintain their body temperature at nine weeks old, however, it is time to speak to your vet!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Often Should You Shower A Puppy?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Once it\u2019s time to start showering your puppy, infrequent showers are recommended at first. At the absolute most, you should be showering them once a month, but this could be as little as four times a year depending on their breed and lifestyle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The coats of dogs are designed to self-regulate. They naturally produce oils to maintain a healthy coat and skin, and they shed dead or unhealthy hair or hair that is no longer needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Excessive showering can interfere with those natural processes and stop them from working properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Showering a dog too often results in them having an unhealthy coat that is excessively dry. This can also lead to itching and irritation of the skin. It can even interfere with their natural shedding patterns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hair that needs to come out can get caught up in their coat, leading to matting, or the hair can be erroneously identified as unhealthy, leading to excessive shedding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For these reasons, you should wash your dog\u2019s coat as little as possible and only when necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exactly how often you should shower them depends heavily on the type of coat they have (and we will look at specific coat types below). It also depends a lot on your dog\u2019s lifestyle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dogs that spend most of their time indoors with just a quick daily trip to a grassy park aren\u2019t going to need to have a shower very often.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other hand, very active dogs that spend more time outdoors, for example, playing in the mud or going swimming in the ocean a lot are going to need to have a shower more often.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tips For Showering Your Puppy<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s important to know when it\u2019s time to shower your puppy versus when a simple rinse or wipe down with a cloth is all that\u2019s necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If your dog ends up getting a little dirty on their way home from the park, a good, thorough shampooing is not always the best way to clean their coat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are a few things to keep in mind when assessing whether or not it\u2019s shower time for your pup:<\/p>\n\n\n\n